


Forest's Little Ones

by silvergalax



Series: More Mess than Magic AU [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Babies, Demigods, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 17:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12658308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvergalax/pseuds/silvergalax
Summary: minghao doesn't think he can take care of somebody else





	Forest's Little Ones

**Author's Note:**

> Bubs (n)- mythical creatures that LITERALLY look and act like babies. Usually stops growing once they hit 2 years old. They are playful in nature and they could shapeshift into any form of baby animals. Important to the people surrounding them because they provide a healing aura no other medicine could give.
> 
> For reference: https://imgur.com/a/vSglh

 “You know Minghao, for a partner who wants to mate with the forest demigod, you sure don’t have a lot of interest in Bubs.”, Seungkwan chatters as he rinses the hair of one of the tiny bubs.

Bubs are creatures who look like tiny mortal babies who never seem to grow old. Minghao could only scoff as he watches Seungkwan wash the face of a little girl.

“Mingyu is in charge of a lot of them since th- Hey Soo stop pulling grasses! You’re going to dirty yourself!”, the siren chastises the younger ones who were stumbling off the river rocks while chasing each other.

“Where was I? Ah yes, lots of these little Bubs live near Mingyu’s territory which technically makes him in-charge of them.”, the little bub shivers in Seungkwan’s hold when the cold water splashes on his face.

“Like it, Nini?”, the Siren fondly stares at the creature’s black eyes. The little creature nods with a smile.

“How do I put this”, Minghao chews his inner cheek as he thoughtfully chooses the right words, “It’s not that I don’t like them? I just guess I am not made for taking care of little species like them?”

Seungkwan laughs at this, “Are you asking me if you’re correct about yourself?”, the siren brushes the hair out of the little bub in front of him then lets him stand to play with the others. “Because honestly, I think you’re wrong.”, Seungkwan stretches his strained legs after giving four bubs a bath.

“Why do you think so?”, the forest protector asks with a raised brow.

Seungkwan flips his feet around the clear river waters, “It’s Mingyu.”, Seungkwan simply states making Minghao perk up to the sound of the name as if it was his own. “He’s like a Bub too, in a lot of ways.”, The siren holds up his fingers as he enumerates, “Looks like a baby, acts like a baby, sometimes talks like a baby…”, he drones on as Minghao absorbs each information, not getting the point at all.

“I don’t understand.”, he declares, cutting off Seungkwan.

“You can take care of little ones too if you can handle a giant pup like Mingyu.”, Seungkwan rolls his eyes after finishing off his explanation.

“I heard my name”, a deep voice calls behind the forest protector.

Minghao immediately turns around and sees the demigod in all his tan glory, the setting sun behind him giving his skin a beautiful glow. Minghao wonders if his lover is actually the son of the God of the Sun. Maybe he was the God of the Sun himself. No offense to the real god though, but he honestly thinks Mingyu deserves to be one.

“What were you talking about?”, the bubs playing in the river immediately scampered towards Mingyu, hugging his long legs as the older waddles towards the edge of the river with the little creatures surrounding him.

Minghao smiles fondly at the sight, “Seungkwan was asking me why I don’t have a fixation over your little ones.”, Mingyu sits down beside him, a little bub immediately makes it way towards the demigod’s lap.

“Ah, you’re right. I just noticed that.”, Mingyu caresses the little creature’s wet hair as it looks up to him with a smile, “What’s the matter though, do you have bad experiences with them?”, Mingyu turns to Minghao with confused eyes.

“Not really, I just don’t really think I can take care of others.”, Seungkwan grins at this knowing what he actually told Minghao.

“Well, for the record, you were the only forest protector raised by the late Master Izo”, Mingyu pauses, “May his soul rest with the skies and winds.”, Mingyu whispers. “Maybe you just got used to be the one always being taken care of?”, Minghao watches as Mingyu plays with the bub on his lap. The little creature pulled Mingyu’s right hand, it was even larger than its face, and then gripped his forefinger.

Minghao almost cried at the sight.

The tiny one’s hand could only hold one Mingyu finger.

One bub hand equals, one Mingyu finger.

His lips slowly quiver, a coo almost escapes his lips.

“Minghao?”, his reverie got interrupted when Mingyu called him. “Let’s go, the sun will be down any minute now.”, Mingyu stands up and lifts the bub on his hip, supporting its butt with his arm. “It would be harder to get to the cottage with the little ones around.”, he offers his other hand to Minghao and helps his lover up.

Around twelve little creatures surround Mingyu once more as they all bid Seungkwan good bye. The siren swims away back to their fortress at the end of the river.

The forest protector was left all to himself behind the forest demigod and the little creatures. He scowls at the lack of attention he was getting. Not one from Mingyu nor the Bubs. He just thinks that he does not have the skill to rear such small beings. He’s a forest protector, he’s too rough for that. No wonder no bub would come to him.

Well, there’s one walking near him, not mingling with his kind. He stares at the bub’s small body clothed with sewn Banana leaves.

“Hi.”, Minghao softly greets, grinning what he hopes is a smile enough to entice the small creature. The creature looks up to him with a pout and then shapeshifted into a fawn, rushing forward to his kind.

Minghao could only, sigh. See? He wasn’t made for this.

He perks up when he hears Mingyu laughing in front. The demigod was trying to carry three Bubs, one perched on his shoulders, while there were two others he is carrying on his arms. One of the Bubs on his arms shapeshifted into a bunny was trying to shower his face with kisses, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Minghao smiles thoughtfully at the scene.

They finally stepped into the entrance of the forest, the wind greeting them as their hair swayed from its kiss. The bubs shivered, huddling closer to Mingyu, hugging each other for warmth.

He couldn’t be the only one who couldn’t handle younger beings right? He thinks deeply as he walks, the dead branches crunching with his every step.

Seungkwan is off the list because the creatures clearly loved him enough to ask him to give them a bath. Jeonghan the Mountain God… maybe? These creatures are scattered within his territory so maybe he likes them too?

Minghao scrunches his brows further, he couldn’t be the only one! A light bulb seemingly popped out of his head. He finally knew who could have the same dilemma as him! Wonwoo the Mage!

 

Minghao deadpans at the scene before him. “Hi Minghao!”, Junhui greets from the field of flowers he was perching on, some Bubs were sitting around or playing with him either in their normal or shapeshifted form.

Wonwoo was sitting on a tree stump while a line of Bubs were in front of him. “Why are you here?”, he asks the mage, sitting next to the stump. The Bubs were either teary-eyed or supported by another bub who seem to be worried for their sick friend. Wonwoo touches the forehead of the teary-eyed creature in front of him, leaving Minghao at awe with how easy he seems to be interacting with them.

“I’m here to check on their conditions.”, the mage felt that the creature was warmer than normal making him scowl. Sad eyes looked up to the mage upon witnessing his reaction, the Bub’s lips started to tremble.

“Mingyu said there was a mild epidemic of flu caused by a foreign insect around his forest.”, Wonwoo explains as he examines the arms of the creature before him, noting the rashes.

“I mean, why are you doing this?”, Minghao still cannot exactly understand what the mage was doing.

“You mean _why_ I am doing this?”, the forest protector simply blinks at him in confusion. “I’m a mage remember? I also studied about taking care of the health of different creatures so I can concoct the right medicine if they need to.”, the bub in front of Wonwoo finally cries.

Minghao can clearly see the flash of worry in Wonwoo’s eyes as he hoists the creature up in his arms, rocking him back and forth. Loud cries echoed in Minghao’s ears as the other Bubs lined up also started to shake.

“Oh no no no.”, Junhui scrambles from his seat to calm down the small beings.

It was such a domestic scene. The Bubs surrounded Junhui just like what they did to Mingyu, only that they were all sobbing softly. Junhui tries to hug all of them yet he could only fit five in his arms, the others could only hug him from outside his embrace.

“Their immune system is weaker compared to our kind since they could only live in their baby form for their whole life.”, the cries of the Bub in Wonwoo’s arms finally subsided, opting to suck its thumb instead as soft hiccups escaped its lips.

The forest protector was speechless. He thought the cold, stone-faced Wonwoo would not be able to take care of such tiny beings but here he was, unknowingly proving Minghao’s suspicions wrong. 

Minghao almost aww-ed aloud when Wonwoo rested his cheek on the creature’s head. He bites his inner cheek in jealou- no. Xu Minghao The Mountain Protector of the Fourth Range is not jealous at Wonwoo for being able to care for the little ones.

“Minghao?”, Junhui calls out from his huddle with the Bubs. “Are you okay? Do you need a hug too?”, Junhui opens his arms as the tiny ones turned to Minghao too.

“A-ah I need to go.”, his voice breaks, “Uhh… th- the Mouthbeasts! Yes! Haven’t fed them! Haha! Bye!”, he runs back inside the forest to avoid inquisition.

Junhui and Wonwoo stared back at each other. “But Mouthbeasts could hunt and feed themselves?”, Junhui confusedly tells his husband. Wonwoo could only shrug as the little one in his arms falls asleep.

 

It was a long and tiring night for both the forest protector and demigod. They were now in their treehouse at the center of the forest when Mingyu noticed the change in his lover’s demeanor.

“Love? Are you okay?”, the hammock Minghao was laying on swings slightly as Mingyu sits on the edge.

“What makes you ask that?”, Minghao stares at Mingyu’s eyes, feeling his agitation.

“Well… you just have been out of it lately?”, Mingyu takes Minghao’s hand and kneads the soft skin with his thumb. For someone who fights a lot of beasts and dangerous entities lurking around the forest, his hand is too soft compared to the demigod’s palm. Minghao’s fighting style fosters a lot of its strength in the smooth flow of his core energy. His hits are well-planned that even if it appears soft to an outsider, it could be considered deadly. The forest’s calls for him as its protector was just pure accident, but that’s a story for another day and Mingyu is just really glad he met the boy beside him.

“Do you think the Bubs like me?”, well that wasn’t exactly what Mingyu thought his lover would ask him. He thought the other was having an existential crisis or something, he laughs.

“Heavens, were you just worried about that?”.

Mingyu’s eye widens when Minghao pouts further, the protector turns his back on him.

“Loooove”, Mingyu pushes the protector to face him, but the boy won’t even budge. Mingyu started to fear for his life, he won’t put it behind his lover to call the Mouthbeasts on him. Oh no, he may be a demigod but those creatures scare the hell out of him. Especially when Minghao did the bidding. No. Mingyu scrambles his brain for a plan, a simple apology won’t do.

“Let’s meet the Bubs tomorrow and see if you can play with them.”, Mingyu blurts out making Minghao perk up from his cold treatment. “You want to be close to them right? Playing with them is the best way to go!”, the demigod cheers when he saw Minghao turning his head towards him.

Mingyu could see Minghao’s eyes turn side to side as if hesitating. “But I don’t know how to play.”, he turns back again.

The forest demigod could only sigh, he lays beside his lover and hugs him from behind. “I will be there with you.”, Mingyu whispers through his lover’s hair. It smells like the flowers from the northern side of his forest. It smells like home. He feels Minghao’s fingers tangle with his, he pulls the younger closer to his chest until he can feel Minghao’s warmth.

“Okay.”

 

 

Mingyu held Minghao’s hands as they traced the familiar trail towards the Bubs’ territory. When they came to a clearing, Minghao saw little houses built like a village. He knows that some demigods, like Mingyu, and other creatures helped the Bubs build their small village.

They like giving back to the Bubs since they offer a lot of healing spirit whenever they stay around others. The Bubs playing with a ball immediately cheered and ran towards Mingyu upon seeing him. Slowly, a small crowd of the creatures huddled around them, asking for Mingyu to carry them. Some were still crawling, some were in their shapeshifted forms.

Minghao marveled at the fawns, bunnies, and puppies running towards them. Mingyu looks back to Minghao –  couldn’t believe there was a more beautiful sight than just seeing his lover. It was seeing his lover’s eyes twinkle at the sight of the babies around them. He visibly cooed, the Bubs turned their attention to the man behind Mingyu.

“You like them a lot, don’t you?”, Mingyu teased wiggling his brows.

“No!”, the Bubs stepped back with wary eyes. “I- I mean-“, Minghao could only stutter as he watches the crowd slowly disperse.

Mingyu could only panic at the fear he was seeing across Minghao’s face, “Everyone!”, he gathers their attention again. “We’re here to play with you!”, the babies perked up again, some excitedly shifting into a different form. The Bubs took Mingyu’s hand to take him somewhere, Minghao followed only to be blocked by several other animals along the way, nobody was taking notice of him. He felt so out of place. Maybe he really wasn’t for this. It’s like he became a failure as a father. He feels pain prick his heart at the desertion.

A small Bub stares at him with narrow eyes from beside. It catches Minghao’s attention because it was literally looking up at him. It was the same Bub that he greeted the other day only to run away.

He slowly sits down, afraid that he might scare the other one away again. “Hi to you again.”, he swears he’s trying to muster all the sincerity in him to smile at the younger.

“What’s your name?”, the baby only blinks up at him.

“I’m Minghao, what’s your name?”, he hopes the other would start to warm up soon, so their visit here wouldn’t go to waste. He sincerely wants to play with the kids though.

The Bub plops to the ground, Minghao does the same. If he wants to listen to the creature, they need to be on the same ground. Yes, was that a pun? The creature hasn’t answered him.

“Okay since you haven’t answered me, I’ll name you…”, he contemplates deeply, the forest protector wouldn’t want to disappoint the little one by naming it wrongly.

“Ryou”, okay that was random, but it was definitely the first thing that popped out of his head. The little one’s eyes visibly dilated it automatically transformed into a fawn and ran into the woods.

Minghao panicked and chased the Bub, did he just offend the creature? Heavens, he hopes not. The creature was faster than he expected, Minghao opted to run through the branches so he could easily spot the Bub. His lithe legs reached towards branches of different heights, easily maneuvering himself through the forest he knows like the back of his hand. He focuses harder and listens to the reverberations of the wind against the leaves. He hears the exact unpredictable, hurried feet running as far as It could. Far different from the other movements made by other creatures. He turns towards the east side of the forest.

What he forgot when he got there is that the end of the east coast is a cliff. Minghao turns his head left and right while catching his breath, there were no fawn nor baby in sight. He closes his eyes and wonders why he even chased the little one. What even got into his mind? There were other bubs there he could talk to!

A whine echoes from below. The forest protector jumps off the branch he was standing on and looks below the cliff. It was known for the poisonous bushes inhabiting along its edges, it was also around twenty feet in height, nobody could ever survive a fall.

Minghao hears another distress call so he runs the length of the cliff until he spots a small deer on the brink of falling. “Ryou!”, he rushes towards the fawn and reaches for its hand. The fawn was actually a few meters away from the top, it was holding onto a protrusion around a feet away from the edge. The poisonous bushes awaits the fawn from an edge below plus the solid ground twenty feet away. Minghao leans closer to the cliff, he lies forward so he could secure his body on the ground.

“Don’t worry, I’m here for you.”, the fawn cries as it struggles to lift its leg without outbalancing itself. The forest protector feels the strain in his shoulder when he finally grabbed onto the fawn’s leg. He heaves the bub’s body up with all the strength he’s got.

He successfully hoisted the creature up, it immediately shapeshifted back into its natural form. Minghao sighed in relief as he laid flat on the ground with the baby above him. Ryou was crying out so hard, Minghao could feel it shaking in his arms. He remembers Wonwoo cradling one of its kind, so he copies him. He secured the baby in his embrace, “Shh, it’s fine. I’m here.”, he coos as he rests his cheek against its head.

 

“He must have lost his control while maneuvering around the forest.”, Wonwoo explains as he mixes plants and potions for the Bub’s wounds. Good thing, it did not get into contact with any of the poisonous bushes from below. “Bubs are like babies forever. They are really playful but they can never gain limits from their powers.”, Wonwoo looks at the creature sobbing in Minghao’s arms.

The little one cried harder when it saw Wonwoo peeking at him, “Oh, sorry. Please don’t cry.”, Wonwoo tries to wipe the tiny creature’s tears away only for it to thrash in Minghao’s hold. The baby hid its face on Minghao’s chest refusing to part with the forest protector.

“He’s been like that since we saw them.”, Mingyu worries from the hammock, Minghao moves to sit beside his lover while cooing at the Bub in his arms. Mingyu touched the creature’s head to calm it down. “He even refused to come with his friends, he was only clinging onto Minghao.”, Mingyu looks at the younger. Wonwoo tsks and then moves to prepare something.

Minghao and Mingyu busied themselves with the tiny one who was softly sobbing as if it couldn’t get over from the incident.

“Here, give him this.”, Wonwoo offered Mingyu a warm bottle, the younger eyes it warily.

“It’s just milk from the mountain fields of the Second Range. That place where mythical cows graze?.”, the mage deadpans when the couple before him looked at him suspiciously.

Mingyu opened the bottle and tasted it first, “Yuck, you call this milk?!”, the demigod cringes at the indescribable taste of the liquid.

“Dimwit, it’s only for Bubs.”, Wonwoo rolls his eyes when he met Minghao’s glare.

“I swear by my whole library of Wizardry that I do not intend to poison anybody.”

Mingyu finally offers the Bub his milk, but the creature only shifted away from the demigod. “Look, he won’t drink it! Maybe he knows it’s laced!”, Mingyu accuses in disappointment.

No Bub has ever ignored from the most charming demigod of the forest. Ever.

“I know that you don’t believe in my magic Mingyu, but that doesn’t mean I am what you think I am.”, the mage snatches the bottle away from Mingyu and gives it to Minghao instead. “Try to feed him.”, he commands.

Minghao looks at the baby in his arms. Feeling someone watching him, the Bub stares up at Minghao, the forest protector slowly led the container of milk towards the little one’s lips and helped it drink. The tiny creature wholeheartedly accepted the drink from Minghao, it left Mingyu in awe.

“Didn’t you just say you’re not good with Bubs?”, the demigod gets surprised even further when the Bub reached out to take the container from Minghao’s hand and kept on drinking from it as it rests its head on Minghao’s chest.

“I’m impressed.”, Wonwoo smiles, turning back to get his medicine for the creature. He sits in front of the couple as Minghao takes the Bub’s small feet to stretch it forward, revealing a long bruise running on its leg.

The Bub whines again, “Shh, Ryou it’s okay. Wonwoo will take care of you.”, Minghao kisses the creatures head as it silences its sobs.

“Ryou?!”, Mingyu stands up from his seat.

Minghao could only glower from his position, “What? What’s your problem with Ryou?”, the forest protector asks indignantly.

“Minghao, I know every Bub in that territory, and this one’s no exception.”, Mingyu explains panickily while Wonwoo and Minghao calmly take care of the little one who was still sipping his milk.

“So? What’s your problem?”

“He does not have a name!”

“And? What seems to be the problem?”, Minghao takes the little one’s arm and shows Wonwoo its bruises. ”Isn’t it nice he finally has a name?”

“Minghao, only Bubs could name themselves and they only tell that to others who are really dear to them.”, Mingyu rushes to explain, even catching his breath as if he ran a marathon. “I don’t know, there’s this ancient myth that you cannot call them any other name unless they flash it on your mind.”,

Minghao blinks at his lover indifferently, “Well the name Ryou flashed in my mind, so his name is definitely Ryou.”, the little one hands Minghao back the bottle, “Ah, you have a good appetite tiny one.”, Minghao coos, rocking his leg to entertain the younger.

The Bub giggles around Minghao’s hold, turning around to wrap its arms around the forest protector’s neck, “Wait a minute! I’m not yet done!”, Wonwoo takes the arm back only for his face to be slapped back by the creature.

“No! Ryou, don’t hit others.”, Minghao scolds the baby, making the little one’s lips quiver. Minghao immediately rocks the creature back and forth, “You should know you’re wrong, say sorry to Wonwoo.”, Minghao nudges the baby’s body towards the mage. It turns around slowly, staring at the mage’s offended face.

The Bub reaches out a hand to tap Wonwoo’s nose as if apologizing, “Okay, you’re forgiven. Now, sit properly.”, Minghao turns the Bub again towards Wonwoo so he can finish his work.

“Is it possible to take a piece of this memory with me forever?”, Mingyu grins widely as he coos at the sight of Minghao with a baby.

“Well, I know a spell that can make you experience the same thing over and over again.”, Wonwoo looks up at the younger as he applies the final touch to the gashes.

“Oka-“

“Mingyu no!”

 

Wonwoo finally left the couple with a few bottles of milk, “Don’t forget to throw it away if it’s not used until the next half moon or else it will ruin that creature’s metabolism.”, the mage waves as he chants on his pentagram. The Bub waves back as if Wonwoo could still see him through the flash of light.

“Is he staying with us tonight?”, Mingyu follows as Minghao goes back to the hammock for his much needed sleep.

“Yes, do you have a problem with that?”, the younger lays the baby on his side of the bed, scooting a bit closer so Mingyu could fit behind him.

“Not really.”, Mingyu turns off the light then lays down beside Minghao, hugging his lover closer to sleep.

 

 

 

Mingyu woke up in the middle of the night with severe back pain, feeling the cold trunk against his back. He stares back at the hammock and sees Minghao sleeping peacefully, his arm over Ryou who was taking half of the hammock.

 

Guess they have to plan their mating carefully.

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART! I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE WATCHING KIDS AND BABY ANIMALS SO IHOPE I GAVE JUSTICE TO YOUR CHARACTER HERE HAHAHAHAHA Y ou won't be reading this anyway but I still want to thank you for your existence.  
> Aah really, Minghao helped me get through a lot of ups and downs in my life even if he doesn't know it. He deserves all the happiness in the world even if I won't be the one who could give it HAHAHAHA
> 
> ANYWAAAAAAAAY SOFTNESS ASIDE, I hope everybody liked this story! April asked me to write something with babies but... is GyuHao really ready for the responsibility? I don't know. Are we going to find out soon? Hmm.. maybe? As usual, I've been really busy with my studies and outputs are pouring in and out zzzzzz I know that slowly this will saturate me, I hope it does not.  
> 涼 (ryou) meaning "cool, refreshing", 遼 (ryou) meaning "distant" it could mean either heheheh  
> By the way, I completely made up Bubs, as far as I know, they don't exist in other literary works lol, I just need baby mythical creatures.
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! Don't forget to leave a comment or kudos if you liked it!  
> KEEP ON STREAMING SEVENTEEN'S MUSIC AIGHT!


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